Saturday, 15 September 2012

what to do when the floor is clean.....

the floor is clean, the dishes are done and the 6 loads of washing can wait for more sunshine.....now

make yourself a little feast of herby cheesy bread and chocolate brownie. if you feel inclined follow along

after talking to a friend the other day, i have to admit it seems i
am a little bit of a lazy bread maker, i do so love the results but lack
something that allows me to wait through a system of rising and
shaping, it seems i am wham bamb bread maam.

i use this base recipe for olive oil dough from bourke street bakery cook book for almost all my bread making needs. if you are new to the bread game i highly recommend this book as a great starting point

600 g strong flour (i use my budget friendly flour and have never had a problem)

15 g sea salt (and just the usual table variety here)

20 ml olive oil

20 ml milk

400 ml warm water

8
g of dried active yeast (they use fresh yeast in their bakeries but
this is not a practical option for most, you need 13 g of fresh yeast if
you have the pleasure )

and now as the shame begins to
wash over me i admit i am pretty relaxed on the measuring front which
you should never be in the art of baking, but it seems i have inherited
my maternal great grandmothers touch for the culinary arts and have only
suffered a few disasters in all my time in the kitchen. (touching
wood)

for my 'oohhh lovely smells bread'

i add (and using measurements for your benefit, i pinch, sprinkle and spoon with abandon)

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried rosemary sprigs

1 tsp garlic flakes

1 tsp onion flakes.

today i am being a little more bad than usual and using all white flour but do use 1/2 wholemeal most of the time.

i
am also in the position of having mr thermomix to do the hard work (i
am getting lazier by the minute) for the masses put all ingredients in a
large mixer bowl and knead with a dough hook, slowly increasing speed
until you have a nice independent smooth ball of dough, somewhere
between 5 and 10 minutes.

place dough in and oiled bowl
and cover, leave to rise (yes i do this once) until doubled in size
(over an hour usually does it). i have been known to give things a
nudge along by resting the bowl atop the coffee machine or letting it
sit in the waft of the heat pump.

now comes the lovely
touching time, i would rather make bread than playdough for the littles,
with any luck you have something nice to eat at the end.

for
our four i usually split the dough in two and do two different thing,
here we are going half cheesy love scrolls and half dinner rolls, creamy
potato soup is on the agenda for dinner.

for the scroll stretch and roll out your dough, brush with olive oil and top with about one and a half cups of grated cheese (what ever takes your fancy flavour wise). roll up from the long side and cut into rolls about 3 cm wide. spray and flour you tin and sprinkle with fine polenta and rest the lovelies in, if feeling peaceful prove for another 30 minutes before introducing to a toasty 180 c oven for 25 or so minutes.

section and shape your rolls and spray with oil and sprinkle with sesame, this is the focaccia of miss little, she enjoys the finger poking part and i agree

and after

and the littles helping hands

and this chocolate brownie recipe has been my faithful fall back for 3 or so years since receiving it on a blotted piece of paper from the baker where i was working (way back in those days,) it is easy, forgiving and will double without trouble

4 eggs

400 g of sugar

beat these together until pale and thick

add

100 g cocoa

125 g flour

250 g melted butter, cooled

bake for around the 25 minute mark or until just set at 180 c

for this one (i am eating it after all) i added one and a half cups of frozen raspberries.